Chapter 5 - Preston’s Confession
Saint Matthew’s Hospital was under police guard.
Preston occupied a private room on the seventh floor. His wound had missed his heart by less than an inch, but the bullet remained lodged near his shoulder blade.
Detective Ortiz wanted to question him immediately.
Preston refused.
He would speak only to Evelyn.
Before entering, Evelyn settled Sophie in a protected family room with Marcus and two officers.
“Don’t leave,” Sophie whispered.
“I’ll be right outside.”
“You said that when Daddy went to work.”
The words struck deeper than Sophie understood.
Evelyn knelt.
“I am not going anywhere without you.”
Sophie touched the bandage on her forehead.
“Do you think Daddy remembers me?”
“He could never forget you.”
Evelyn entered Preston’s room.
He looked smaller against the white pillows. Tubes ran from his arm, and a heart monitor pulsed beside the bed.
His eyes opened.
“You found her.”
“Yes.”
“Was she hurt?”
“Not by the kidnappers.”
Preston looked away.
Evelyn moved closer.
“You accused a seven-year-old child of stealing. You planted the phone. She fell because of you.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“To force you out of the ballroom.”
“Why?”
“Because there was supposed to be an explosion.”
Evelyn went still.
Preston continued.
“Not a large one. Enough to cause panic. Enough for someone to take Sophie without anyone seeing.”
“You helped them.”
“I thought they only wanted the phone planted.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
His voice broke.
“But I didn’t know they would take Sophie.”
“Who gave the order?”
Preston glanced toward the closed door.
“She’ll kill me.”
“She already tried.”
“That bullet wasn’t meant to kill me.”
“What was it meant to do?”
“Stop me from saying her name.”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“Say it now.”
Preston breathed through the pain.
“Vivian Mercer.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“My mother-in-law?”
Preston nodded.
Vivian Mercer had vanished nine years earlier.
Daniel told everyone she had abandoned the family after years of conflict with his father. Evelyn had never met her. There were almost no photographs of Vivian in the Mercer home.
Daniel refused to discuss her.
“She’s alive?” Evelyn asked.
“She never left.”
“Then where has she been?”
“Building the Ormond Network.”
“What is that?”
“A system of hidden accounts, shell companies, private hospitals, judges, police officers, doctors, anyone who could be bought.”
“And Daniel discovered it.”
“He discovered part of it. The red ledger contained the rest.”
“Sophie mentioned a red book.”
Preston’s eyes sharpened.
“Daniel gave it to her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You need to find it before Vivian does.”
“Why would Daniel give financial evidence to a child?”
“Because adults could be searched. A child’s belongings were ignored.”
Evelyn thought of Sophie’s old storybooks, school bags, toy boxes, and the belongings Daniel had packed away before his final trip.
“Was Vivian the woman in green?”
“Yes.”
“Why did Caroline approve her invitation?”
“Caroline didn’t know who she was.”
“The wedding office says she personally approved it.”
“Vivian can imitate voices. She can access almost any system connected to Ashford Holdings.”
“What does Julian know?”
“More than he admits. Less than he thinks.”
“And Caroline?”
Preston’s eyes filled with regret.
“Caroline helped Daniel fake his death.”
Evelyn gripped the bed rail.
“Why?”
“To keep him alive.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said he found an account.”
“The account listed payments connected to his staged accident. Vivian ordered him captured, not killed. Caroline changed the vehicle and bribed the hospital examiner. She placed another body in Daniel’s car.”
Evelyn felt sick.
“Daniel let me believe he was dead.”
“He thought Vivian would leave you and Sophie alone.”
“She didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why did he never come back?”
“Because Vivian found him.”
The heart monitor accelerated.
Preston’s fear was growing.
“She kept him alive because he had encrypted the ledger. She believed only he could unlock it.”
“Then why is she searching for the book?”
“The ledger isn’t the key.”
“What is?”
Preston looked toward the glass wall.
A nurse stood outside.
Her surgical mask covered most of her face.
A sapphire pendant glinted above her uniform.
Preston’s eyes widened.
“She’s here.”
The nurse entered.
Detective Ortiz moved to stop her, but another hospital worker shouted from the hallway.
“Fire alarm!”
Red lights began flashing.
The nurse pulled a syringe from her pocket.
Evelyn seized the metal tray beside the bed and swung it into the woman’s wrist.
The syringe flew across the room.
The nurse struck Evelyn hard across the face.
Preston reached for the call button.
The nurse grabbed his oxygen tube and twisted it around his throat.
Ortiz forced the door open.
The woman released Preston and smashed the room’s emergency window with a chair.
She climbed onto the exterior maintenance platform.
Ortiz ran after her.
Evelyn rushed to Preston and pulled the tube away.
“Stay with me.”
Preston coughed.
“Her face…”
“What about it?”
“That wasn’t Vivian.”
“Then who was she?”
Preston’s eyes moved toward the broken window.
“Amelia.”
The teenage girl in Daniel’s photograph.
The girl who had approached Sophie’s school.
Ortiz returned to the room.
The platform was empty.
On the floor near the shattered window lay the sapphire pendant.
Evelyn picked it up.
The back contained a tiny compartment.
Inside was a photograph of Daniel as a child.
Beside him stood Caroline.
And between them, wearing the same sapphire pendant, was a woman Evelyn had seen hundreds of times.
A woman who had attended Daniel’s funeral.
A woman who had comforted Sophie afterward.
May you like
Evelyn recognized her immediately.
It was her own mother, Margaret.
